Currently, some gondola cars of the rotary dump type are constructed to include a depressed center section to lower the center of gravity of the car and to provide increased capacity for the car. One such car is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,713,400 to Teoli.
A more recent patent on a rotary dump gondola car is U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,097 issued to Jones, et al. on Nov. 30, 1982. The gondola car of the '097 patent includes a depressed center portion that is constructed of two parallel extending concave troughs that are disposed between the trucks supporting the car.
The present invention provides an improved gondola car of the rotary dump type that includes multiple troughs that extend between the trucks supporting the railway car and are disposed along each side of a center sill that extends the full length of the car. The troughs of the car of the present invention, contrary to those illustrated in the '097 patent, are deeper adjacent to the trucks than at the latitudinal center line of the car. Each trough of the car of the present invention has a longitudinal center line or axis that extends at an angle relative to the longitudinal center line of the car. The ability to make the troughs deeper near the trucks provides a greater capacity car having a lower center of gravity or, on the other hand, provides a car having the same capacity with a lower overall height to reduce the drag effect from the wind as the car is being pulled along the tracks.